Crennel Puts Frye Number One on Teams Depth Chart

The quarterback battle between Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson will continue, but for right now Frye will be the starter, as coach Romeo Crennel has the Akron QB first on the teams depth chart. Frye will by the ranking likely be the starter in the teams first preseason game vs the Chiefs on Saturday night at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Both QB’s have had their issues so far, and maybe the ranking by Crennel is more by default than it is with one player taking the bull by the horns. Anderson seemed to have the edge over Frye in the offseason camps, but so far in training camp, Frye has finally stepped up a little bit and is starting to look a little more focused.

“Generally in competition somebody steps ahead of the other guy. But it’s not always the case,” Crennel said. “These guys are competing to win the job. Both of them operate the team. I think the team has confidence in both guys. We’ll go into the preseason and see if somebody elevates a little. If not, then I’ll decide who the guy’s gonna be.” Both QB’s looked bad in two minute drills Sunday, as Anderson didn’t get a first down, and Frye with the number two offense was only able to generate a field goal. The same drill last week saw Anderson only get one first down, and Frye was picked off in the end zone.

“When you take the orange jerseys off and people can hit us [quarterbacks], it changes the game a little bit,” Frye said. “You have to make quicker decisions, be able to get the ball out of bounds if nobody’s open. Just little things like that that don’t make a big difference in practice but make a big difference in games.” You have to wonder how much Brady Quinn would be in the mix if he was in camp. The Browns second first-round pick remains a holdout, and right now any thoughts of him starting or even getting playing time in 2007 is an afterthought.